


Vitamin D

by StoneBarrett



Category: Original Work
Genre: Future, Homeworld is Horrible, Horror, Science Fiction, Sunburn, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22361941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoneBarrett/pseuds/StoneBarrett
Summary: A man reminisces at the changes of the world as he witnesses an execution.
Kudos: 4





	Vitamin D

**The world** was dark. His world, anyway. The goggles that were pressed tightly to his face were just barely clear enough to see through. He'd laughed at the kids who wore welding goggles as part of that ridiculous fashion trend, but now they were a standard. He adjusted the large shade on his head as he walked. 

**How did** it ever get to this point, he wondered. Even with all those warnings, things had come to this. But, to be fair, no one had expected this. Not the way it happened. Mankind would surely get around to destroying the planet one day, but this? It was, he thought, as if one day the sky had just peeled back. As the light poured through, it changed things. At first, children couldn't play outdoors as long. Then they started telling people to stay indoors around noon. The burns started coming with less and less exposure. Animals started to get sick and had to be put down. Crops dried where they stood, and had to be grown indoors. Whole factories were changed over to agriculture, just to keep starvation at a minimum. 

**Of course** , the heat didn't help matters. What used to be a cool, moderate autumn was now a brutal, grueling summer. He was lucky, his neighbor had originally come from a desert-filled country, and had helped them learn how to dress to best survive the punishing sun. He wondered if the neighbor, he never could remember how to pronounce the name, had made it back to his homeland. Hopefully he'd gotten transport on one of the big ships, and hadn't been one of the people cooked alive in one of those flying coffins. He laughed to himself, he'd always hated the idea of flying. People had insisted he was being ridiculous. Well, the end of the world had come, and he was still here, while the jets were all being broken down into more useful things. 

**It wasn't** much farther. He'd been walking for almost two hours. The familiar route had only been a few minutes drive, back when they'd been able to use cars for more than emergencies. What luxury that was! But at least now he got a lot of exercise. 

**There was** the courthouse. He'd arrived later than he realized; the ceremony was over. The mass of people in their robes, some faces hooded, some under enormous-brimmed hats much like his own, were on their way back to their lives. He stayed. 

**In the** new, harsher world in which they lived, it became much more important to work together to survive. If everyone pitched in, and things went well, there could even be found some level of comfort. But it depended on everyone. And while a moment of weakness could be occasionally forgiven, with your friends to help with the slack, to actively harm the group could not be allowed. A man, a human, was resourceful. He could build a society that allowed him to thrive. He could use the unique capacity for thought to make tools to aid his survival. But he had to put aside short-sighted self-interest. And to unjustly harm another human made you no better than an animal. And so, when judged guilty under the law, that which made you human was taken from you. Your confiscated clothing would be donated, or the fabric reused, and you would be set free under the open sky.

**He stood** , and he stared at the creature on the ground. It would not be long before the writhing and strange noises stopped. Soon, someone would come to collect the carcass, to be disposed of safely, perhaps recycled into fertilizer for the warehouse. He watched as it creaked and squawked in pain, its skin boiling in the harsh light he held at bay with his goggles. Justice had been done. As the creature reached out a hand in a futile plea for help, he turned, and began the long walk home.


End file.
